Tour Scotland photographs and videos from my tours of Scotland. Photography and videography, both old and new, from beautiful Scotland, Scottish castles, seascapes, rivers, islands, landscapes, standing stones, lochs and glens.
Old travel Blog photograph of a walking path by the River Spey near Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland. The River Spey is 107 miles long. It rises at over 1,000 feet at Loch Spey in Corrieyairack Forest in the Scottish Highlands, 10 miles South of Fort Augustus. The river descends through Newtonmore and Kingussie, crossing Loch Insh before reaching Aviemore, giving its name to Strathspey. From there it flows the remaining 60 miles North East to the Moray Firth, reaching the sea 5 miles West of Buckie. Speyside distilleries produce more whisky than any other region. The Speyside Way, a long distance footpath, follows the river through some of Moray's most beautiful scenery.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old travel Blog photograph of Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan, in Scotland. The first son of Archibald Corbett, the liberal politician and property developer and Alice Mary, the daughter of John Polson, a corn merchant, Thomas Corbett was born in Chelsea, London, England, on 19 December 1895 and was brought up in London and on the family’s Scottish estates. Known as " Billy " to the family, he was educated at Gibbs School in Sloane Street, London, Wellington House Preparatory School in Westgate-on-Sea and Eton College. He was 18 when the First World War broke out; he secured a Commission in the Ayrshire Yeomanry and went with them to Gallipoli in October 1915. The Ayrshires were amongst the last troops to be evacuated and went from there to Egypt, forming part of the cavalry reserve in the Second Battle of Gaza. He then transferred to the Grenadier Guards; after re-training he was sent to the Western Front in March 1918, joining the 1st Battalion at Mercatel as a Lieutenant. This coincided with the German Spring Offensive, Operation Michael, and the battalion was soon in action. At Boyelles on 30 March 1918, Corbett attempted to dig out some wounded soldiers who had been buried by artillery, while " under heavy fire and in full view of the enemy " and was awarded the Military Cross but received a leg wound which left him with a permanent disability. He married Gwyn Mervyn Grimond on 14 August 1918. She was the sister of Jo Grimond, Baron Grimond, the leader of the Liberal Party 1956 to 1967 and daughter of Joseph Bowman Grimond of St Andrews, Fife. He had met her while on leave; they had five sons, one of whom was killed in action in 1944, and a daughter. On leaving the army he became a successful breeder of pedigree dairy cattle on the family estate in Ayrshire and campaigned for the eradication of bovine tuberculosis. He succeeded as the 2nd Baron Rowallan on 19 March 1933. Rowallan became district commissioner for north-west Ayrshire Scouts in 1922 and also served as Adjutant of the Ayrshire Yeomanry. In 1939, he raised a new Territorial Army battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers whom he accompanied to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force in 1939. Evacuated from Cherbourg during Operation Ariel, he was then given command of a Young Soldiers’ Battalion in the Scottish Highlands; the adventurous training he initiated was based in part on his long association with the Scout Movement. Rowallan served on the World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1947 until 1953. During this time, he was also a governor of the National Bank of Scotland. Rowallan was awarded the Silver Buffalo Award, the highest award of the Boy Scouts of America in 1948. He received the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh in March 1957 and was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Thistle in March of that year. He died at Rowallan Castle near Kilmarnock on 30 November 1977. He was survived by his daughter and four of his five sons.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old travel Blog photograph of lawyer, Robert Irvine, from of Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland. Clan Irvine, also called Irving, is a Lowland Scottish clan. Sometime between 1124 and 1125 Gilchrist, son of Erwini, witnessed a charter of the Lords of Galloway. The first lands by the name of Irvine were in Dumfriesshire. According to family tradition the origin of the clan chief's family is connected with the early Celtic monarchs of Scotland. Duncan Irvine settled at Bonshaw. Duncan was the brother of Crinan, who claimed descent from the High Kings of Ireland, through the Abbots of Dunkeld. Crinan married a daughter of Malcolm II of Scotland and their son was Duncan I of Scotland. William de Irwin was a neighbor of the Clan Bruce. The Irvines supported their powerful neighbors, the Bruces, and William de Irwin became the armor bearer and secretary to king Robert the Bruce. For twenty years of faithful service William de Irwin was granted the royal forest of Drum, in Aberdeenshire, as a reward. This then became the seat of the chief of Clan Irvine
Robert Burns wrote the song, " The Birks Of Aberfeldy " in late August 1787, during a visit to the Birks of Aberfeldy, then known as the Den of Moness. Legend has it that Burns wrote the song after resting in a natural seat on the rock, just at the side of the Birks. This natural seat is well known and a plaque now exists at the exact spot where Burns was inspired to write the ballad.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old travel Blog photograph of first world war soldier, Donald Mackenzie, from Birnam, Perthshire, Scotland. Clan Mackenzie, Scottish Gaelic: Clann Choinnich, is a Scottish clan, traditionally associated with Kintail and lands in Ross-shire in the Scottish Highlands. Traditional genealogies trace the ancestors of the Mackenzie chiefs to the 12th century. However, the earliest Mackenzie chief recorded by contemporary evidence is Alexander Mackenzie of Kintail who died some time after 1471. During the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Mackenzies supported Robert the Bruce, but feuded with the Earls of Ross in the latter part of the 14th century. During the 15th and 16th centuries the Mackenzies feuded with the neighboring clans of Munro and MacDonald. In the 17th century the Mackenzie chief was made Earl of Seaforth in the peerage of Scotland. During the Scottish Civil War of the 17th century the Mackenzies largely supported the Royalists. During the Jacobite rising of 1715 the chief and clan of Mackenzie supported the Jacobite cause. However, during the Jacobite rising of 1745 the clan was divided with the chief, Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fortrose, supporting the British Hanoverian Government and his relative, George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromartie, supporting the Jacobites. Birnam is approximately one hour from Glasgow and Edinburgh airports, and two hours from Inverness by car.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old travel Blog photograph of the road To Slioch, North of the village of Kinlochewe, Scotland. Slioch, Scottish Gaelic: Sleaghach, is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands situated in Wester Ross. The mountain is composed of Torridonian sandstone on a base of Lewisian Gneiss and has steep crags on three sides and allows easy access for the walker only from the south east where the large open corrie of Coire na Sleaghaich has two ridges on its flanks which the walker can use. The mountain's name comes from the Gaelic word “ sleagh ” and means “ the spear ” and this only becomes obvious when Slioch is viewed from Lochan Fada to the west, from here the subsidiary top of Sgurr an Tuill Bhain, Peak of the White Hollow, dominates as a slender peak and gives the mountain its name. Wild goats are often seen on the mountain.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
